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THE ULOLWE

SOUTH AFRICA – SUID-AFRIKA

A monthly railway research / historical publication

‘n Maandelikse spoorweg historiese en navorsing publikasie

Vol 2 No 6 - June 2011

Un-official / Nie Amptelik Everything to do with

the former South

African Railways:

i.e. Railway Stations,

Harbours, Airways,

RMT, SAR Police,

Armoured Trains,

Lighthouses,

Pipelines, Catering, SAR Models, Diagrams of

Locomotives etc and books on the Railways in Southern

Africa

Patron - Les Pivnic – Beskermheer

The Blue Train at Fountains, Pretoria Photo: Hennie 13 Dec 2011

Hennie Heymans, Pretoria, South Africa

heymanshb@gmail.com

June 2011

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Contents - Inhoud

Welcome - Welkom .............................................................................................................................. 6

Gautrain ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Shosaloza Meyl ................................................................................................................................. 6

Revised editions of The Ulolwe ..................................................................................................... 6

Project ................................................................................................................................................ 6

Main Story: Dr Raimund Loubser ..................................................................................................... 7

Die Halwe Haarbreedte - Raimund Loubser ............................................................................... 7

Andre Kritzinger – Locomotive series No 3 – SAR Class 2E ......................................................... 9

South African Class 2E .............................................................................................................. 10

Power type .................................................................................................................................. 10

Electric ......................................................................................................................................... 10

Career ........................................................................................................................................... 11

South African Railways ............................................................................................................. 11

Manufacturer .............................................................................................................................. 11

Orientation .................................................................................................................................. 12

Service .......................................................................................................................................... 12

Images .......................................................................................................................................... 12

A Class 2E locomotive (left side), circa 1947 .......................................................................... 12

See also ......................................................................................................................................... 12

References ................................................................................................................................... 13

IMR Grave Standerton – AE Frees ........................................................................................... 13

SAR & Harbours Brigades – Roll of Honour - Request ................................................................ 13

My “stamp collection” - A present from Oom Les ........................................................................ 14

The Wepeners’ perambulations ....................................................................................................... 15

Theunissen .................................................................................................................................. 15

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Theunissen .................................................................................................................................. 15

Tierfontein ................................................................................................................................... 16

Wesselsbron ................................................................................................................................ 18

Welkom Show Train: “To be or not to be ... a passenger” - Hennie Heymans ................ 21

Railway History: Table Bay Harbour Board .................................................................................. 21

Cape Town: the “Dolly” and the “Bombela" – Hennie Heymans ........................................... 21

First Bus Service to displace a Train ............................................................................................ 25

The Bombella .................................................................................................................................. 25

Comments ....................................................................................................................................... 25

The Sea Point Train ........................................................................................................................ 26

Sources ............................................................................................................................................. 26

South African Railways – No 1 Armoured Train – Carl Hoehler ............................................... 27

Carl Hoehler sent in the following pictures: .................................................................................. 27

Photograph of Capt De Meilions Grave – Hennie Heymans ................................................... 29

Transnet Statuettes – Hennie Heymans ......................................................................................... 30

Three SAR Accidents in the OFS – Hennie Heymans ................................................................... 31

Railway Police Constable SF du Plessis – Fanie du Plessis ...................................................... 31

1952-02-07 Death Staff Sgt NAC Kruger - Ladysmith .............................................................. 33

c1933-00-00 Accident at Glen– Fanie du Plessis ........................................................................ 34

1933-09-02 Accident Shannon– Fanie du Plessis ....................................................................... 35

1933-12-15 Accident at Sepane – Fanie du Plessis ..................................................................... 37

Railway Police – Armoured Vehicle – Windhoek – Terry Rowe ................................................ 39

Sepane Today – Jacque Wepener ..................................................................................................... 40

Sepane – Andre Kritzinger ............................................................................................................... 44

SAR Class 16E 857 (4-6-2) - Malcolm Best at Sepane ............................................................ 44

Various Comments on Sepane ......................................................................................................... 45

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SAR Padlocks – Brett Radloff ........................................................................................................... 45

A little bit of background on SAR Locks .................................................................................... 45

Padlock – Jacque Wepener ................................................................................................................ 61

What is This? ....................................................................................................................................... 61

Glencairn - Simon’s Town-line – Les Pivnic ................................................................................... 62

1. Hennie’s response ..................................................................................................................... 62

2. Pierre de Wet’s response ........................................................................................................... 65

3. Les Pivnic’ response ................................................................................................................... 66

Welkom Railway Station (Free State) – J Wepener ....................................................................... 67

Brandfort – J Wepener ....................................................................................................................... 68

Houtenbeck – J Wepener ................................................................................................................... 69

Vetrivier – J Wepener ........................................................................................................................ 70

Industrial railways – J Wepener – Free State Goldfields .............................................................. 71

Harmony Depot.......................................................................................................................... 71

RRL Welkom ............................................................................................................................... 71

Sheltam - Virginia ...................................................................................................................... 72

Sheltam - Virginia ...................................................................................................................... 74

Sheltam - Virginia ...................................................................................................................... 74

Railway photographs ........................................................................................................................ 75

Dwarsvlei – Louis Lubbe .......................................................................................................... 75

Rack Loco nr Watervalboven ................................................................................................... 76

NGR – Anglo-Boer War – WSL Churchill & HMAT ..................................................................... 76

SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS AND HARBOURS MAGAZINE October

1921 - 687................................................................................................................................. 76

After 40 years’ service – Retirement at 65 ..................................................................... 76

People interested our railway heritage ........................................................................................... 78

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The mail bag........................................................................................................................................ 80

Nick Twynham ........................................................................................................................... 80

Les Bray ....................................................................................................................................... 80

Irvine Short ................................................................................................................................. 81

Rod Currin .................................................................................................................................. 81

Carlos Vieira ............................................................................................................................... 81

Ashley Peter ................................................................................................................................ 81

Dave Fortune .............................................................................................................................. 82

Stewart Currie............................................................................................................................. 82

Sue Lawrence .............................................................................................................................. 82

Lindsay Rickard ......................................................................................................................... 82

Robert GMAM ............................................................................................................................ 83

Les Pivnic .................................................................................................................................... 83

Ian ................................................................................................................................................. 83

Greg Smorenburg ....................................................................................................................... 83

Adrian .......................................................................................................................................... 83

Bill ................................................................................................................................................. 84

Les Pivnic .................................................................................................................................... 84

Andre Kritzinger ........................................................................................................................ 84

Pierre de Wet .............................................................................................................................. 84

Michael Mc Carthy .................................................................................................................... 85

Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 85

Next issue ............................................................................................................................................ 85

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Welcome - Welkom

Welcome to the Winter Edition of The Ulolwe, its cold here in Pretoria and it has

snowed in Namibia!

Gautrain

A new welcome sight in Pretoria is the Gautrain moving ever so silently like a silver snake

through the Pretoria suburbs. I for one, welcome this new service. The roads are very

congested and we have no rules on the road. Fast cars on the left and on the right! Slow cars

on the left and on the right! Big trucks all over the road while motorists are weaving through

the traffic, dangerously changing lanes. Police parked on the sides of the road.

We still have the odd idiot TYPING on his cell phone while concentrating on his phone

instead of on the traffic - oblivious of cars behind him! The road between the airport and

Pretoria will soon be a toll road. We are still taxed everyday with new forms of tax. Petrol is

cheaper in both Mozambique and in Botswana – in spite of SASOL. I for one would take the

Gautrain to the airport.

Shosaloza Meyl

I wish one could take the train from Pretoria to Durban or Cape Town. Can’t they have a

“Pretoria”-carriage like in the old days hooked on the Metro?

Revised editions of The Ulolwe

The revised editions of The Ulolwe have now all been placed back on ISSUU except volume

1 number 3 which refuses to be placed on the website! As we have placed a number of

editions in quick succession on the website, this edition will be a rather shorter, than the

normal edition – because of the large amount of reading to do. However we plan to bring

out a few special editions each concentrating on a single subject. As an example we quote

volume 1 number 6A dedicated to the former South African Railways Police.

Project

Many of our railwaymen in Southern Africa paid with their lives in order that we may enjoy

the fruits of their labour. Other railwaymen died as soldiers. We have the privilege to enjoy

the freedom they bought with their lives and paid for so dearly! Sometimes the cost was

enormous. We had the Anglo-Boer War, WW1, the Rebellion and the Revolt on the Rand

during 1922, WW2 and the Bush War!

Coming to mind are the soldiers that died in German South West Africa when they

overruled the local station master, the soldiers who died in various train accidents and

plaques erected to the memory of members of the SAR & H Brigade.

There are many surprises waiting to be discovered in some of our nearby grave yards!

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Main Story: Dr Raimund Loubser

Dr & Mrs Loubser

One of our readers, Stan Kantor, has introduced me to Dr

Raimund Loubser, the son of Dr MM Loubser and younger

brother of Dr Kobus Loubser, a former General Manager of

the South African Railways. It was quite an experience to

meet this eminent engineer. He has graciously consented to

hand over some of his papers on the locomotives of the

South African Railways and special paper prepared by his

father Dr MM Loubser, who was the first Afrikaans engineer

on the South African Railways.

Dr Loubser spent the first few years of his professional life, first as a pupil engineer and

then as a qualified engineer on the South African Railways. He simply loves steam trains

and he still has in his possession many notes and books on our South African steam

locomotives.

Here follows a short story in Afrikaans:

Die Halwe Haarbreedte - Raimund Loubser

Dis die jaar 1949, die laaste jaar van my Pa se diens as Werktuigkundige Hoofingenieur van

die S A Spoorweë voordat hy in Desember afgetree het, en die eerste jaar van my diens in

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die SAS. Ek was natuurlik aan die onderent van die range, 'n Leerlingingenieur, beter

bekend as "Pupil Engineer". Laasgenoemde het in Afrikaans 'P--p--l' Ingenieur geword

miskien 'n meer realistiese benaming.

Ietwat benoud het ek in die Pretoria Werkplaas begin - nog die ou donker ZASM geboue

agter Pretoria stasie, wat gesloop is toe Koedoespoort 'n paar jaar later aan die gang gekom

het. Teen die tweede maand is ek uitgeplaas na die GROOT Kearns boorbank onder die

wakende oog van vakman (sê maar) Joe. 'n Enorme stoomlokomotief silinder van omtrent 3

ton massa word deur die kraan op die masjien se tafel geplaas. Die growwe gietyster

gietstuk was al klaar afgemerk met senterlyne en dit moes nou mooi haaks en plat opgestel

word, voordat die binnekant na 24" (610 mm) uitgeboor kon word. Joe wys my hoe die

instellings gedoen word, en verdwyn vir 'n ruk met die aanmaning: "Loubser, get her lined

up, will you?". Ek dink maar wat ek kan onthou van ons Vyl en Boor klasse en na 'n

gesukkel het ek hom reg, soos ek meen. Joe kom terug en stap 'n slag om die gietstuk.

He was telling us about the SAR Mechanical Foreman

working in the old NZASM workshop, before

Koedoespoort, near Pretoria Station:

"Loubser, get her lined up, will you?"

I did the job and then: "Loubser, come here - have a

look at the left centreline - it is out by half a hair's

breadth. This is how it should be!"

He does some fine tuning and pulls me to the right:

"Now have a look at the right centreline - it is out by a

full 1/64" (0,4mm)! That's not good enough; in the SAR

we do our job thoroughly and correctly". Silence from my side.”

Stilte vir 'n ruk. Toe kom dit: "Loubser, come here - have a look at the left centreline - it is out

by half a hair's breadth. This is how it should be!" Hy maak blitsvinnig 'n fyn verstelling, en

sleep my na die regterkant. "Now have a look at the right centreline - it is out by a full 1/64"

(0,4mm)! That's not good enough; in the SAR we do our job thoroughly and correctly". Stilte

van my kant.

Maar dit is nie die end van die verhaal nie. 'n Paar dae later, nadat Joe my geleer het hoe om

die uitboor te doen, sê hy vir my hy sal die volgende dag, 'n Vrydag, nie daar wees nie.

"Loubser, will you take the first roughing cut - but leave the finishing cut for me on

Monday". So gesê, so gedoen - met minder as 'n halwe haarbreedte fout. Ek het begin

wonder wat gaan aan, en vra toe een van Joe se kollegas waarheen hy is. Die antwoord was

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"Na Lydenburg, soos gewoonlik" - "Hoe so?" - "Hy is mos 'n ekspert op die teel van forelle -

hulle het seker weer probleme by die Staatsnavorsingstasie gehad en hom laat kom!"

Joe se geval was nie uniek nie. Ek het begin rondvra en agtergekom dat baie van die

bekwame vakmanne besonders presteer buite hulle ambag. Ek noem net 'n paar: Bob

Plunkett was 'n Raadslid van die Arbeidersparty, een van die passers was voorsitter van die

Pretoriase Filatelievereniging, en gereedskapmaker Mitchell is deur die medici ingeroep om

pynverligting deur hipnose toe te pas bv by moeilike kraamgevalle waar narkose onwenslik

is. Wat gebeur het is dat promosie na by. Voorman vir bulle onaantreklik was omdat hulle

hul prouksiebonusse sou verloor, en daar was nie ander maniere waardeur hulle binne die

SAS aan skeppende spanwerk kon deelneem nie. Hulle was op 'n doodloopstraat. Daardie

vermoëns is dus vir die SAS verloor. Dit is gelukkig net hierna reggestel toe die Produksie

Beplanningskantoor gestig is wat van hulle betrek het en deur spanwerk van vakmanne,

tegnici en ingenieurs, besonders presteer het. Die verbetering was so opvallend dat dit

steeds by my bly vassteek het.

As ek terugdink, was die "halwe haarbreedte" gekoppel aan die forelleteelt die sneller wat

my in twee opsigte laat ontwikkel het: eerstens om van my 'n perfeksionis en tweedens 'n

voorstander van spanwerk in sy verskeie vorms te maak.

By Valindaba het hierdie benaderings besonders goed ingepas, trouens ek twyfel of ons met

die projekte kon geslaag het sonder hulle suksesvolle toepassing. Die spanwerk gedagte was

ook sentraal in die uitbou van die Ingenieurswese Professie, waar die tegnici, tegnoloë en

ingenieurs onder een Raad kan saamwerk, en daar op grond van bewese bekwaamheid

gevorder kan word van een garde tot die volgende.

Fluit - fluit, my storie is uit!

• The moral of the story the moral of the story is everything on our railways was done

correctly and you could not be out, even by the breadth of a hair!

Andre Kritzinger – Locomotive series No 3 – SAR Class 2E

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SAR_Class_2E.jpg

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South African Class 2E

SAR Class 2E, running consisted to a Class 1E

Power type Electric

Designer Siemens-Schuckert

Builder Henschel

Serial number 23132-23134

Model 2E

Build date 1937

Total production 3

UIC classification Bo+Bo

Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge

Bogies 9 ft 3 in (2.82 m) wheelbase

Wheel diameter 48 in (1,200 mm)

Wheelbase 30 ft 11 in (9.42 m)

Length 43 ft 8 in (13.31 m)

Width 9 ft 2.2 in (2.799 m)

Height 13 ft (4.0 m)

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pantographs down

Axle load 18.55 long tons (18.85 t)

Locomotive weight 66.6 long tons (67.7 t)

Current collection method Pantographs

Traction motors Four

Transmission 17/75 Gear ratio

Multiple working 3 maximum

Top speed 45 mph (72 km/h)

Power output 402 hp (300 kW) per motor

1,608 hp (1,199 kW) 1h total

Tractive effort 21,200 lbf (94 kN) 1 hour[1]

Train brakes Air & Vacuum

Career South African Railways

Class 2E

Power class 3kV DC

Number in class 3

Number E134 to E136

Official name Class 2E

Delivered 1937

First run 1937

Retired 1973

Disposition Scrapped

In 1937 the South African Railways (SAR), later renamed Spoornet and then Transnet

Freight Rail (TFR), placed three Class 2E 3kV DC electric locomotives in service.[1]

Manufacturer

South Africa's second electric locomotives, the South African Class 2E, entered service in

Natal in 1937. The electrical equipment was designed by Siemens-Schuckert and the three

locomotives were built by Henschel & Son in Germany. They were the only German electric

locomotives ever supplied to South Africa and intended for mixed-traffic haulage.[2]

The Class 2E was similar in external appearance to the Class 1E, the main visual distinction

being the difference in window and grille layout on the locomotive sides. The internal

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arrangement of their electrical components differed from that of the Class 1E and their four

300 kW traction motors made them more powerful.[2]

Orientation

These dual cab locomotives had three windows with a grille between each pair of windows

on one side, and a line of five grilles and two windows on the other side. The number 1 end

would be at the front when the side with five grilles was to the left.[1]

Like the Class 1E, 3E and 4E, the Class 2E had bogie mounted draft gear and an articulated

inter-bogie joint, therefore no train forces were transmitted to the locomotive body.[1]

Service

The three Class 2E locomotives served between the Transvaal and Natal, as well as briefly in

the Western Cape shortly before being withdrawn from service in 1973.[2]

Images

Main picture: SAR Class 2E (right side), running consisted to a Class 1E

A Class 2E locomotive (left side), circa 1947

See also

• South African Class 1E

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• Electric locomotive numbering and classification

• Electric locomotive

• List of South African locomotive classes

References

1. ^ a b c d South African Railways Index and Diagrams Electric and Diesel Locomotives,

2’0” & 3’6” Gauge, circa 1940, as amended

2. ^ a b c Locomotives of the South African Railways (Leith Paxton & David Bourne,

1985), p126, ISBN

0 86977 211 2

Categories: Electric

Locomotives of South

Africa | Henschel locomotives | Siemens locomotives | Bo+Bo locomotives

IMR Grave Standerton – AE Frees

I found this grave in the Standerton Grave

Yard of a Fireman attached to the Imperial

Military Railways, Arthur E Frees who died

on 2nd of September 1900 nr Heidelberg Tvl.

How did he die? - Photo by Hennie

Heymans

SAR & Harbours Brigades – Roll of Honour - Request

Photographs of memorial plaques of members of the SAR & H Brigade that died during war

service would be welcome. I remember for instance that there is such a plaque at Kimberley

Wikimedia Commons has media related to (category):

South African Class 2E

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- and outside Johannesburg Station is also a memorial to these men. In Old Durban Railway

Station there was also a plaque. I read in that our SAR & H Brigade also served in East

Africa, North Africa, Palestine and Italy.

Hi Hennie,

I have a book "We Fought The Miles" about the S.A.R. during World War 2 published by authority of

the General Manager of the South African Railways. At the back of the book is a Roll of Honour that

lists Name, Civil Grade, Military Unit, Rank, How Deceased and Date Deceased. It is 9 pages. If I

scanned each page and e-mailed them to you would that be of help?

Kind Regards,

Richard G.

• Thank you Richard I forgot about that book – I have it and will refer to it, however I

need plaques with their names to illustrate a planned special edition.

• Let’s give Honour where Honour is due!

• Is anybody interested in our troops using the railways in German East Africa during

WW1? I have scanned many pictures of the Railways in this former German Colony

– Hennie H.

My “stamp collection” - A present from Oom Les

For many years I have been searching for a “green” liveried Vapour-Clarkson steam heating

car – I have most liveries except the blue & grey version. Thanks Oom Les!

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The Wepeners’ perambulations

Theunissen

Theunissen

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Tierfontein

Tierfontein

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Tierfontein

Wesselsbron

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Wesselsbron

Hi to all.

We've been thinking of some memorable footplating we've done through the years (mostly

Jacque, to me it is the magical place where everything happens – John doesn't really like the

footplating rather preferring the comfort of the train) anyway - here is our list of some of our

favourites in no particular order, these will stick in our memories for ever.

Through the years the rules and regulations have somewhat relaxed and surprisingly there

are a lot of drivers that jump at the chance for some company and conversation on the

footplate nowadays - unfortunately these guys are getting scarce as the "new generation"

takes over. As you all remember in the old SAR days footplating was almost unheard of

without the necessary permits and indemnity forms and so on.

Way back in the late seventies (my first ever footplate experience) - footplating on those

huge 4E's in Worcester station, the rocking and swaying feeling over the points and the very

loud sound of the brakes being applied, also the sheer size of those beasts, only a small

"laaitjie" holding tightly onto his father...

Worcester loco, also in the late seventies, on the footplate of a GMAM Garratt with the safety

valves lifting and slowly moving forward on this giant, with the double exhaust beat, need

we say more...

The only Narrow Gauge footplate ride in 1985, from Renken to Izingolweni on the regular

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SAR train to Harding with a class NG/G16, returning with the Harding to Port Shepstone

working - the miniature effect of everything hugging the country side, the plenty of whistle

blowing for all the level-crossings and especially the incredible heat on the footplate

everytime the firebox doors were opened to stoke coal onto the fire...

From Virginia to Glen Harmony in 1989 with a very badly priming 15F, no. 2996 on a frozen,

crisp Free State morning with the sun on the horizon, the long trail of steam and smoke and

the continuous, violent slipping on iced rails, sending shudders through the whole

locomotive, hardly keeping moving and the sweet smell of the steam and smoke in our

nostrils...

Back in 1990, a trip on class 23 "Mandy" no. 3300, with the Welkom Show train. Doing in

excess of 100 km/h between Mooiveld and Whites-West. As many of you would be able to

confirm, travelling on a steam loco at such a speed is incredible. The whole motion, smell

and heat, everything sort of just comes together in a continuous blur of rods, noise, smoke

and steam. Later that evening we had a quick dash to Hennenman for water, fire cleaning

and coal trimming...

During the late eighties on the footplate of a 34 class diesel on the Local Welkom passenger

train - going over all the points and cross-overs, coming from the branchline onto the

mainline at Whites and being routed to platform 3 through the Hennenman yards, the

lurching and jerking, bouncing and swaying whilst enjoying coffee from a spotlessly clean,

shiny stainless steel mug...

Many footplate rides on the Lorraine Gold mines system, during the nineties, with the 10CR,

19B and 19D's and the two blue "kerkies" (sitters), into violent afternoon African thunder

storms with soaking warm rain showering us, with little protection from the cab...

On the St Helena system, many days and nights were spent on the footplate of the 16CR's

learning to fire and drive. Many beautiful sunsets and sunrises were viewed from the

footplate. Rain, wind, heat and icy cold were endured. The food prepared on the shovel and

the firebox coffee and travelling 90 km/h on the mine tracks... Later when the diesels came I

was still there and had many a driving turn on the ore haulages all under the watchful eye

of a driver now at Sandstone...

In 1989 on the footplate of the leading 35 class on the Zastron to Bloemfontein passenger

train - the first night time footplate ride. The way in which the diesel's sealed beam pierced

into the night sweeping away the darkness on the tight curves and lighting up the veld like

daylight on a chillywindswept Southern Free State night...

Doing 150 km/h, yes that's not a typo, with a crazy driver on the Vierfontein to

Viljoenskroon section with a 34 class and a guardsvan during the eighties – the fastest we've

ever been on the rails - a nervous kind of enjoyment...

A footplate ride on the trailing 33 class from Mariental to Keetmanshoop. With Stan "the

diesel man" from England, on Boon's train in 2003 - with not a drop to drink between us in

the sweltering desert heat and no stopping for three and a half hours... Also, same tour,

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doing nearly 100 km/h on the footplate of the trailing 34 between Putsonderwater and

Prieska returning from Namibia...

Again with Boon in 2004, from Bellville to Worcester, doing in excess of 120km/h on the

footplate of the leading 35 class, going through Brackenfell, the crowd on the platform

waiting for Metros, literally ran for cover when they saw us coming. Later that night going

through Tulbagh Kloof the diesel's headlight illuminated the ravines and the mountainside,

when the driver switched the sealed beam off with just the stars to guide us on a silent,

moonless night, through the pass, a feeling of awe came over us, also watching the

passenger train's lights following so peacefully behind us through the pitch black dark

cuttings...

Between Tierfontein and Bultfontein in the late eighties on the pick-up with a single 34 class

- notch 8 roaring through the cutting and over the Vet River girder bridge, the roar of the

diesel was deafening blasting out of the cutting onto the bridge, sending the baboons

scattering all over the rocks and dashing for cover...

Back with Bosveld in 2005 - from Modderriver to Ronaldsvlei with a 7E through the Great

Karoo on "Steel Kyalami"... Same tour, through Bushmanspoort, through many tunnels, with

a 7E, again the rocking, swaying motion of those big electrics through the mountains ...

All the way from Alicedale to Grahamstown in 2004 on the footplate of the leading 35 class,

the continuous climbing and the tunnels and the hard and bumpy ride on the lightly laid

branchline...

Matjiesfontein to Almeria on the footplate of the leading 6E1in 2004 through the Hexriver

tunnel system, with the "regular" driver of the Trans Karoo, the first and only passenger to

disembark at Almeria - through the 12.9km Hexton tunnel, incredible...

Mothusi diesel depot (back when we still had plenty of traffic) - on weekends, when the

guys were having a beer and a braai, taking the strings of 34's / 35's and turning them on the

triangle, then for servicing and re-fuelling and positioning them for their next turn of duty,

with the shedman changing the points for me, having millions of Rand worth of locomotives

under my control...

Recently, shunting Gunhill yard, Kroonstad, in the early hours of a Freezing winter's night /

morning with a 34 class, the cab heater and hotplate on fully and lastly, the last rays of a

setting sun, making the goods trucks glow golden orange, on the late afternoon shunt in the

Welkom goods shed also with a 34 class...

We can carry on and on - these are some of the most memorable one's we've had, counting

ourselves extremely privileged to have been able to have done these things. Surely many

readers can tell many such tales. Once the Railway "Gogga" has bitten - it's for life...

Dodging the loco-inspector.

John & Jacque.

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Welkom Show Train: “To be or not to be ... a passenger” - Hennie Heymans

Dear J & J: This really brings back a flood memories! This is how I remember the steam trip

during the Welkom Show. We were only to meet much later on one of Boon’s Trains. I was

the District Commissioner of the SA Police stationed at Welkom during 1990 and 1991. As

DC I was asked to officially open the Welkom Show.

However there was a very serious armed robbery and could not see myself on the train

while the other police officers and policemen were trying to apprehend the criminals! I had

also told the Police had brought crime down in the whole district and the only way to

enhance the image of the Police was through the rendering of effective service to our public!

We did catch them that day – I first borrowed the helicopter from a mine – mine security

was very helpful - while waiting for our SAP Chopper to arrive from Bloemfontein. I spent

the next three days and three nights on the paper case! Spent many hours of those three days

in special court sessions and answering interdicts and facing learned legal personages. One

suspect, big hefty chap died soon after arrest due to a heart attack! Then came the

applications for bail and, and, and, ... while Brixton Murder & Robbery took over our

suspects after our arrest - as they were also looking for them. An interdict was served on me

personally and after many hours of telephone calls, paperwork the criminals were back in

Welkom 3pm and late that Saturday-night we were finished with all the legalities. We –

police, prosecutor, lawyers etc were all dog tired but, by virtue of the powers vested in me, we

all went to the Police Officers Club, had it opened for a well earned drink! (It was the only

place where anybody could get a drink in the Free State at that ungodly hour!)

A considerate policeman from the Local Criminal Bureau took a beautiful picture – in black

& white - of the “23” when he went to Thabong and he gave the photograph to me on my

transfer to Soweto!

The case finally ended one day after spending a full day in the Supreme Court in

Bloemfontein to answer to an administrative charge of “contempt of court” – I had to

explain to the Judge why the prisoners were not immediately released on bail! Fortunately I

had kept my notes of everything I did and what happened.

Chaps, I was so glad I did not go on the train trip but fought both crime and legal red tape

that day! Thanks J & J!

Railway History: Table Bay Harbour Board

Cape Town: the “Dolly” and the “Bombela" – Hennie Heymans

The Table Bay Harbour Board and subsequently the SAR’s Dock Train ran from the old

Monument Station (at the foot of Adderley Street) in Cape Town to the East Pier in Table

22

Bay. The distance was two miles and the fare for the journey was three-pence and later

under the ambit of the SAR the fare was four-pence.

The Dolly with No’s 62 and 641.

Note the bi-lingual board (English and Dutch) along the roof of the coach. These boards

were fitted to all coaches. These boards left the stranger stepping off a ship no doubt as to

the destination of the little train, or the amount of the fare due.

The Dock Train was affectionately known as “The Dolly”. It was instituted during 1904.

When the SAR was formed the Dock Train had five coaches, viz no’s 60, 61, 62, 63 and 642.

Route: Monument Station, Imperial Cold Storage (ICS), Ebenezer Road just inside the

Customs Gate, North Gates station, No. 2 Jetty, and finally East Pier.

1 The same photo also appears as a Post Card in Post Card Journeys in South Africa p 252. 2 Classification of SAR Coaching Stock.

23

Time Table taken from the Argus dated 29-06-1904 when the train was operated under the

ambit of the Table Bay Harbour Board 3

The Dock Train had an easy run. It had no gradients to negotiate. 10 minutes was allowed in

the timetable and was sufficient for the trip to the East Pier. Weekdays (Monday to Friday)

there were 22 trips in each direction.

The first train left Monument Station at 06:36. A smart turn-round at the East Pier enabled it

to proceed inwards at 06:49. The last train from Monument Station was at 19:30, and from

3 Furnished by Dave Rhind – letter dated 23-11-2000.

24

the East Pier at 19.50. After that hour, and on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, passenger

and commuters had to use taxis and hansom cabs.

Normally, “The Dolly” consisted of two coaches of a very light construction. They had

slatted wooden seats. The tare weight would not exceed fifty tons, and the motive power

was generally a 6th class engine, or an obsolete 5th Class. An obsolete 4th Class took a turn

sometimes, not to speak of other locomotives which were not obliged to exert great tractive

effort, or to run at a high speed.

The numbers on the photograph are SAR no’s 62 and 64. According to Dave Rhind4 they

were former CGR coaches no’s 62 – 64.

Mail days were different. Then “The Dolly” would be made up to five or six coaches, to cope

with the crowds, which used to go down to the East Pier to see the mail ship off to England.

• The first stop on the way to the docks was outside the Imperial Cold Storasge, at the

bottom of Bree Street, that is, if there were passengers to pick up.

• The second stop was at the bottom of Ebenezer Road, just inside the Customs gate.

• After this halt the speediest part of the journey began, in a gigantic half circle round

the old quarry, past the oil and petrol tanks, past the then Robinson dry dock and

round a sharp curve into old North Gates station. This was the third stop. This

station then had a large wooden platform, a corrugated iron roof, and was perhaps

the most used station on the line.

• The next halt was at No. 2 Jetty.

Not far beyond No 2 Jetty was the old East Pier station. This station also had a wooden

platform. Here the engine ran round the train, and the return trip started.

East Pier Station unsafe during Stormy Weather

There were many times though when the terminus was unusable. When a north-west gale

was blowing at high tide, with water washing dangerously over the top of the breakwater

(which was immediately alongside the track) and the line itself was underwater, the train

had to stop short of the terminus!

The Dock Train enjoyed an expensive luxury which in the end was to prove its own

undoing: It had the exclusive use of what was then known as “The Dolly Road”, and with

the growth of freight traffic to and from the harbour, the authorities decided that this

valuable track was needed for goods traffic.

4 Letter dated 16 April 2000.

25

First Bus Service to displace a Train

To compensate for its withdrawal it was decided to introduce a bus service. Incidentally this

bus service was the first to displace a train service anywhere in South Africa. From the end

of October 1926, “The Dolly" ran no more, except for special trips on mail-days, when the

bus service was inadequate!

The Bombella5

The Dock train was supplemented by "The Bombella"6 which made one trip in the morning,

and one in the afternoon, to transport African labourers to and from Ndabeni, later a busy

industrial area, but at the time of running a huddle of huts dignified by the name of a

‘location’ or ‘township’.

“The Bombella” had a rake of dingy, ill-lit carriages, with wooden seats arranged

lengthwise. “The Bombella” was hauled by any shunting engine that was available.

Sometimes, though, it was headed by a class 1 SAR engine, which, leaving more mundane

duties, revived the glories of the past. Early in the former century, the Class 1, was then

known as the Hendrie ’B’ after its famous designer, Mr. DA Hendrie. It hauled the Main

Line Corridor Expresses of the Natal Government Railways. The original name of the

locomotive, Hendrie ’B’, has stuck even to this day.

This train, on its afternoon journey, often carried office workers, who, putting their pride in

their pockets, thought it worthwhile to board “The Bombella”, so that they could get to

Adderley Street seven minutes sooner than if they waited for “The Dolly".

Comments

I went and did some research on the name: “I wrote Bombella when I was 16. The name

goes back to a train that transported the mine workers from all of South Africa to the gold

and diamond mines. But the train had 4 classes. I always travelled fourth class with the

foreign workers. The fourth class was always at the front of the train, because there you

swallowed all of the dense smoke and embers, which was very unpleasant in the heat of

South Africa. The meaning of this train was immense, since it was a symbol for all classes of

South Africa.” 7

Bombela Gautrain Contract - The long-awaited bid winner of the Gautrain was finally

made. The Bombela Consortium has been chosen to build the high-speed train over the next

four-and-a-half years, in a Public-Private Partnership (PPP).

5 I presume Bombela was a local name for the local train, however I came across this name elsewhere in South Africa for similar

trains. 6 Some spell it with one “l” while others spell it with two “ll’s” 7 Bombella: Abdullah Ibrahim see http://www.oneworld.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=6980

26

The project consists of financing, design-build, and operations and maintenance of the

Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. The Bombela consortium consists of the following members:

Bombardier; French civil contractor Bouygues Travaux Publics; RATP Développement, a

major French rail and bus operating company; South African civil contractor Murray &

Roberts; and Loliwe8 Rail Contractors and Loliwe Rail Express the consortium's black

economic empowerment component, which are partnerships of South African companies

who own 50 percent of Bombela.9

The Sea Point Train

Monument Station was also the starting point for the Sea Point Train. It had a more difficult

line. Unlike ‘The Dolly’ it had to make a smart get-away and had to accelerate past the old

Power Station with a brave show of steam and smoke to clear the Bree Street crossing and

get up and over the bank to Alfred Street - before the force of gravity proved too much for it!

See the map in the centrespread of the route taken by the Sea Point Line. The map was

kindly sent in by Ron Conyngham

Sources

Anon: SA Railways & Harbours Magazine, October 1921, p 701.

Argus, Cape Town: Advertisement dated 29 June 1904.

Bell WA: The Old Days of the ‘Dolly’ and the “Bombela’: The Railway Society of

Southern Africa, Vol III, No 1, January 1963.

CME Pretoria: Classification of SAR Coaching Stock, Renumbering Lists,

Government Printer, Pretoria, 1912.

Conyngham, R: Map of Sea Point Line.

Rhind, D & Walker, M: Historical Railway Postcard Journeys in Southern Africa, ISBN 0

9584156 6 8. [Published by M Walker, his contact tel. is 021- 788-1927.]

Rhind, D: Private letters to the Author.

8 Meaning railway 9 http://www.projectpro.co.za/e-Zine/Gautrain/Bombela/bombela.html (2011-06-10)

27

South African Railways – No 1 Armoured Train – Carl Hoehler

Carl Hoehler sent in the following pictures:

No 1 A.T, Trafalgar OC Capt Wallis. (No initials)

When in GSWA we see the “new” (?) OC of No 1 AT, is Capt Kent. (No initials)

28

29

Photograph of Capt De Meillon’s Grave – Hennie Heymans

Met this old Dame in Windhoek – I don’t know her name or her number – Hennie.

30

Transnet Statuettes – Hennie Heymans

A man came to my house one day and he

brought me the following little statuettes

that he bought in a pawn shop. I placed

them on the scanner and made the following

copies. These statuettes are made out of

brass while some are made out of fibre glass.

They were obviously made for Transnet as

they have a stamp below inscribed: “The

copyright is vested in Transnet Ltd.”

• Any further comments will be

appreciated.

31

Three SAR Accidents in the OFS – Hennie Heymans

In response to William Marshall’s program “Op die Plek Rus” for the Armed Forces of

South Africa, pre 1994, with a once a week slot for the old SA Police in which we take part -

Mr Fanie du Plessis (74) phoned me. I visited him at his home in Kempton Park. He told me

his father was a Railway Policeman who was born during 1888. To me history and dates are

important to reconstruct past events. Personal particulars are also important to me, for e.g.

for later genealogical research by others.

When I perused the Baptism Certificate I noticed that Const Du Plessis was baptised at

Somerset East during 1888. Many of our Boers and Afrikaners come from that part of the

country. This is the world of the Slagtersnek Rebellion and where Boer and Scot (e.g. the

Pringle’s) met at the church at nearby Glen Lynden.

Railway Police Constable SF du Plessis – Fanie du Plessis

Railway Police Constable SF du Plessis was born on 3 June 1888:

32

Mr Du

Plessis (SA

Airways –

Ret) with a

photo of his

father, SAR

Constable

SF du

Plessis.

After the Anglo-Boer War many Boers emigrated. One Boer became Sgt Geyer – he was a

long, tall, man, who did point duty in New York for many years. At first I thought that

Const du Plessis was a member of the NYPD. However on close inspection I found that he

was sporting the coat of arms of the Union of South Africa on his cap.

33

Mr Du Plessis is also showing a walking

stick that belonged to Pres SJP Kruger.

(On thinking about the matter, it made

sense – Pres Kruger married into the Du

Plessis-family.)

I borrowed from Mr du Plessis photographs of a soldier’s coffin arriving at the station and

three sets of photographs of three different railway accidents that happened in the Orange

Free State. Taking Const Du Plessis’ date of birth into account and then when he would have

gone on pension I placed the date of the accidents during c1933. Const Du Plessis only got

married when he was 50 years old – his son could give me the places, but not the dates, of

the accidents. Here are the photographs Const Du Plessis had to foresight to take. However

once I removed the photographs from the album I could determine two specific dates of two

accidents and I ascertained that an Ms Johanna van den Berg died in the accident at Sepane.

1952-02-07 Death Staff Sgt NAC Kruger - Ladysmith

A family member died – the

purpose of this picture is to

show that the SAR also

conveyed corpses and played

a great part in our social life! It is not clear where the picture was taken – in Bloemfontein

or in Ladysmith, or if the coffin arrived or departed.

[When researching the murder of several policemwn in Cato Manor I found that the corpses

of the policemen were also sent by train to their home towns. (In order to convey a corpse

34

there was a lot of red tape to comply with i.e. the District Surgeon’s death certificate,

permission from the SA Police, Dept of Health etc.]

c1933-00-00 Accident at Glen– Fanie du Plessis

A poor horse! I hope it was not a Troop

Horse!

35

Note the Lady’s dress is torn – body language shows the shock of all!

1933-09-02 Accident Shannon– Fanie du Plessis

Coach No 2417 (?)

36

37

1933-12-15 Accident at Sepane – Fanie du Plessis

The Hero of our Story is the 3rd policeman on

the right in the photograph. Photo left by

Jacque Wepener – Sepane today.

Real picture Flipped a 180o

38

The note at back of photos says Johanna van den Berg was killed in the above coach

39

Railway Police – Armoured Vehicle – Windhoek – Terry Rowe

Hi Hennie

While going through some old photos I came across the attached and thought of you, I'm

sure you have seen this. I took it at Windhoek Station about 10 years ago. If it is of interest

and use please feel free to use and add to your collection of SAR Railway Police stuff (I will

not hold copy-right over it.) All the best, Terry.

Terry, Thanks for the contribution – Hennie.

40

Sepane Today – Jacque Wepener

41

42

43

44

Sepane – Andre Kritzinger

Hennie,

Sepane:In the OFS. On the Thaba Nchu line, I think. See

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SAR_Class_16E_857_(4-6-2)_b.jpg

Regards,

André, Cape Town

SAR Class 16E 857 (4-6-2) - Malcolm Best at Sepane

Description English: SAR Class 16E 857 (4-6-2)

Location: Sepane, Free State

Date 4 July 1999

Source Own work Author User: Malcolm Best

Permission You are free:

To share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work

To remix – to adapt the work

Under the following conditions:

Attribution – You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor

(but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

Share alike – If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the

resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

45

Various Comments on Sepane

• Ashley wrote: There is/was a Sepane halt or siding near Thaba 'Nchu on the Bloem -

Bethlehem line. Regards, Ashley Peter.

• RobertGMAM: Between Sannaspos and Thaba Nchu.

• Hello Henie, I grew up at Bloemspruit, two stops before Shannon. After Bloemspruit

it was Nassau, then Shannon. Bloemspruit and Nassau were single lines and had one

platform each. Bloemspruit had a blikplaat10 waiting room and ticket office. Just

before Shannon there was a semaphore signal. My parents spoke of an accident at

Shannon and my dad who was a fireman then spoke of a head-on there but it was a

long, long, time ago and I am not sure if I am remembering correctly. I would like to

know more of the Shannon accident. It was in the early 50's to early 60's I lived there.

Hennie. one more question did I not meet you, with Theo Kruger on Boon's special

Cherry festival train in Ficksburg?11 Your rail-tales are excellent and thank you for

sticking up for me when I made my dreadful mistake by sending the wrong email to

sar-l cheers, from a minus 4 Ficksburg. Dave.

SAR Padlocks – Brett Radloff

Hi Hennie

Sorry this has taken so long to get to you! Please find attached some pictures, and a Word

document which includes picture captions. I’m afraid I have no factual knowledge on them,

all that I know has been gained from my own observations and assumptions. I am keen to

see what other knowledge can be gained from readers of your gazette!

Regards, Brett

A little bit of background on SAR Locks

Generally known as the ‘Chubb lock’, these solid brass padlocks have been found all over

the SAR for many years, and are still in use today. Their primary use is to lock hand

operated points levers, but they are also used to secure hand operated de-railers and line

side telephone boxes. Today they can also be found locking security gates at some

unmanned stations. They are all unlocked with the same key, the famous ‘Chubb key’,

which cannot be removed whilst the lock in open. The lock needs to be locked before the key

can be removed. The locks are made entirely of solid brass, have two-lever locking

mechanism. They are all made with a small loop at the bottom, to which a chain was

secured. This chain was secured to a sleeper of the like, and prevented the lock from going

10 Corrugated iron waiting room - HBH 11 Yes we did meet.

46

missing or being stolen. The front of the lock’s shackle is always marked with the railway

markings, ie SAR/SAS; SAT/SAV; Spoornet etc. The older locks were also all stamped with

their date of manufacture on the rear of the shackle.

They get their name from one of the manufacturers, Chubb, although Chubb was not the

first company to make them. Many different companies have manufactured these locks over

the years. The earliest lock of this type in my collection, dated 1927, was made by ‘Cotterill

Birmingham’. Interestingly, this lock is stamped with its patent number and date of patent

on the rear, the date of which is 1923. This could suggest that this type of lock was first

introduced in 1923. Going by the dates on the locks in my collection, the next company to

produce these locks would appear to have been Chubb London, which made them right up

to the 1950’s. ‘L&F’ seem to have made them during the late 50’s and early 60’s, whilst

Chubb London still continued to make them. During the 1960’s and 70’s, various

manufacturers were making them, including Chubb, (no longer Chubb London), Edden SA,

Yale and Widney RSA.

When the SAR became the South African Transport Services, all locks were produced by

‘Lock & Comp’. Lock & Comp continues to make them to this day and what amazes me the

most is that a brand new key from ‘Lock & Comp’ still works the original 1927 variant!

Although the standard brass ‘Chubb lock’ appears to have first been made in 1923, a lock of

a similar type goes back to pre-SAR days, as the railway museums in both George and

Uitenhage have examples of the ‘Chubb key’ marked CGR12. The museum in George also

has an example of an iron padlock, marked SAR, which would also appear to work with the

‘Chubb’ key, and also has the chain attached to the bottom of the lock.

Another type of lock used on points levers is the ‘Patrick type’ lock. This is in the form a

steel box, secured to the sleeper, into which a chain attached to the lever is locked. A

standard ‘Chubb key’ is inserted into the front of the box to release the chain. Unfortunately

all the examples which I have seen in use are all painted up or very rusted, and no markings

can be found on them. Thus I do not know who makes them, or how old they are.

The standard ‘Chubb locks’ all have a unique key, with the key bit being slanted to the right-

hand side as opposed to straight down as on normal locks. A variety of this was the ‘left

face’ key, in which the bit was slanted to the left. The key is identical in every other way, but

seeing as the bit is slanted in the opposite direction, a standard key would not fit into the

key hole. The uses of this type of lock are unclear to me, but I have heard that they were

(are?) used on special sidings, such as sidings holding dynamite wagons or oil tankers.

Although I have a key of this variety, I have never seen a padlock of this type. I have seen an

12 Cape Government Railways – HBH.

47

example of a ‘Patrick-type’ lock with this key, so perhaps only this type of lock was fitted

with a left face key.

There are also other types of locks used by the railways, used on applications other than

point’s levers etc. These are generally of the more modern ‘pin-tumbler’ type. Yale made

various varieties of brass padlocks, which were used on Van Schoor token-machines and

other such equipment, as well as on telephone and relay boxes. Although not all operated

with the same key, master keying or key-alike systems were used, so locks used for the same

applications often had the same key.

Today, ‘Master’ locks are commonly used on relay boxes, and are also found locking the

boxes of points motors. Viro also makes their ‘Mod-Lok’ for Spoornet. These nylon-bodied

padlocks can also be found on various relay boxes etc, and are marked with the Spoornet

logo.

01 – Padlocks in my collection, manufacturers include Chubb, Chubb London, Edden SA,

L&F, Cotterill Birmingham, Widney RSA and Lock & Comp.

48

02 – Keys in my collection, manufacturers include Chubb, Chubb London, Lock & Comp,

Edden SA and L&F. Bottom row shows a ‘Herkules’ key, which although not an SAR key, is

very similar and does open some locks. Middle key is a Rhodesian Railways variant, and on

the right in a ‘left-face’ key.

49

03 – Points lever locked with a standard ‘Chubb lock’

04 – Points lever locked with a ‘Patrick type’

lock:

50

05 – ‘Patrick type’ lock with a ‘left-face’ keyway:

51

06 – ‘Chubb lock’ used to secure a station gate:

52

07 – Viro ‘Mod-Lok’, marked with the Spoornet logo

53

08 – Old Cape Government Railways padlock, made by V&R Blakemore:

54

09 – Cotterill Birmingham padlock, my earliest example of the ‘Chubb lock, dated 1927.

55

10 – L&F padlock still in use at Langvlei siding, on the Worcester – Mossel Bay line:

56

11 – Yale ‘RKA 24’ padlock, made for SAR/SAS

57

12 – Inside of a ‘Chubb lock’, in the locked position

58

13 – Inside of a ‘Chubb lock’, with key turned ready to open:

59

14 – Inside of a ‘Chubb lock’, in the open position

60

15 – Old iron SAR padlock, in the George Museum:

61

Padlock – Jacque Wepener

Hi all, someone brought this old “Said to be 1930’s BR“padlock and asked if we could shed

some light on its use. The key has been lost, padlock open. Not as SAR “Chubb”

Points/Petrol Tank Wagon” pad locks, which require padlock to be closed, before the key

can be removed.

Painted with grey paint. Marker CHUBB LONDON. Keyhole cover also marked Chubb

London, with small fish embossed on cover. On back 699 stamped on bottom of pad lock.

Local Locksmiths are unable to duplicate a key. Key of the thin-type, nor thick as with SAR

“Chubb” padlocks. Padlock Greetings,

John and Jacque.

What is This?

62

Glencairn - Simon’s Town-line – Les Pivnic

Les Pivnic’s above photo elected the following response:

1. Hennie’s response

Dear Les & Readers

On visits to the Cape I used to travel on each visit on the sub-urban line to Simon's Town.

I bought "Die Burger" which was the best Afrikaans newspaper in the world - mind you - got

into Bigsy's13 - ordered Bacon & Eggs & Coffee - the best breakfast in the world (after pap

and kaaiings - or grits as the Americans in Atlanta call it) then on the rails to see one of the

best views in the world! Muizenberg to Simons Town. At least that's my opinion. I have seen

the whales frolicking and blowing in False Bay from the train window.

Say, for a mere R50-00 I felt like a king! "Die Burger" - with its perfect Afrikaans - I saw the

Burger as the English version of the London Times - the breakfast and the train ride! Past the

rugby fields and the cricket fields - somewhere along the line were/was/is some blue former

SAR coaches with clerestory roofs!

I love False Bay and the mountains. As a policeman I was sent to Simon's Town SA Naval

Base for a course - it was there that I fell in love with the SAR line and False Bay with its

13 The second coach in the consist – Hennie.

63

majestic mountains. We stayed in a hotel that the SA Navy took over; it was called

"Rhodesia-by-the-Sea". In the afternoon, after the course, I would rush down to the SAR line

and watch the trains go by! Walk to the sea and watch the mountains in the distance! I

thought of the Dutch Vryburgers who wanted to cross the mountains over "Sir Louwry's

Pass" - I thought of the travels of Lady Anne Barnard and how she (they) visited my

forbearers in the hinterland. I had by then also read most of Lawrence Green's books!

(I visited the local grave yard - and saw the graves of the "Kroomen". The grave docks were

also historical.) I still have to research the Royal Navy's own good trucks - they stored all

the RN ammunition at Jan Kempdorp (Andalusia) - why? It was safe then from bombers.

The ammo could be sent from there to Simon’s Town, Durban or Walfish Bay - or so was I

informed once.)

Well today we still have the trains - now in a different livery - covered with graffiti - small

windows which are very dirty! Can't see outside. I seem to remember that trains had a

different smell to them! That I remember from the days my Father, a Police Sergeant, made

use of the annual railway concession for civil servants. We visited Matatiele & Cedarville by

train where one side of the family lived and we visited Oupa & Ouma Heymans at Van

Reenen. Many trains those days at Van Reenen.

I could hear the 1E’s making their special sounds!

As small boys my Dad would put us on the train, after a severe warning to behave - and we

travelled as kids alone - Oupa met us on the station the next morning. In those days it was as

if the SAR had a personalised service to the public - but what I remember is the smell of the

compartments! And the sepia pictures? Wonder whose brilliant idea it was? (I think - if I

remember correctly it was started by the CGR.)

I am digressing - getting old - but coming to the dirty trains - I once put my feet on the green

seats and my schoolteacher mother whacked me! There I learnt to respect the interior of a

train - never forgot that whack!

Later in life I met Oom Gert - he was a steward on the SAR during university holidays. Rose

to become a professor and a colonel in our ACF. He also loves trains. We did many trips on

Boon's Bosveld Train Safari's together. We went to Cape Town once and he introduced me

to the "Brass Bell" - here I could sit with my camera - the Brass Bell is build in the sea and

one looks from the sea to the line. At high tide the waves would splash over the trains

passing by!

One thing of these suburban trains is, when one takes a photo, one has to look carefully at

the photo to see whether it’s coming or going!

64

At one stage there was pride in the police and the railways - it was national symbols of our

nation! Our police horses even had their hooves painted black, the trains were clean, the

locomotives were clean and the SAR uniformed staff were neat – Ja Swaer, sometimes their

caps were a bit "skeef" but at least they were neat and presentable.

Stan Kantor and I had a long chat to Dr Loubser - son of Dr MM - and he told me as a

university graduate he had to work as a pupil engineer - they were then known in the SAR

colloquial as po&phol engineers. His foreman severely chocked him off for being out 1/46 of an

inch - he says that is like a hair breath! Now if the SAR was worried about 1/46 inch how

much more on the rest?

I still say - start at the bottom & work your way up! Take pride in your organisation! As a

chief phone your own organisation and try to make a booking on a train these days! Get the

senior people back on trains - forget the SAA - travel by train as part of your senior function.

Inspection - daily inspection is part of training and good "command and control"!

Anyway “Oom Les” - thanks for bringing up all these memories - I just love your

photographs! To see the activity on the photographs is wonderful - all the activity is on the

roads these days.

Last point - I see they are lifting up many sidings and other lines near stations - this is capital

investment - the steel is sold (?) and then it gives a false picture of the income. I shudder to

think what will happen if we have a WAR one day?

Greetings – Hennie Heymans

Muizenberg - a whale from the train window – Hennie Heymans

65

2. Pierre de Wet’s response

Hennie, Nathan & all, I enjoy your stories Hennie – they have a lot of life to them and your

anecdotes make the old railway come alive. Your Dad putting you youngsters on the train to

travel alone with dire warnings to behave for instance brings back memories as well as your

travels along the False Bay coast which I too did as a boy – and you’re right, the old familiar

train smell is gone. No more leather, no more teak, no more Jeye’s fluid and no more train

smoke. It’s only the Jeye’s I don’t miss! And there was always that consciousness of the

Interior – far away over the Hex River pass. We learnt about the Cape mountain barrier at

school and in those days it still seemed like a barrier, or was it merely youth that made it

seem so? I knew many lads at school who rarely – if ever, travelled over the Hex. They just

stayed put on the Peninsula in insular and happy isolation with their parents. Now and then

they’d take the mail boat overseas and some would bravely venture as far as the Garden

Route but that was it. They never got to know the interior and all it offered.

I remember being able to book a train from Cape Town through to the Congo at any SAR

booking office when Africa was a lot wilder than it is today with still huge concentrations of

game and relatively small human populations, with railways that worked. It was in 1960

wasn’t it, when the Congo imploded? And from then onwards it became more difficult to

travel far north as Uhuru drifted southwards. It is remarkable that recently a 52 class Garratt

was still able to haul a special train up in Kenya and that Geoff Cooke’s tours still operate

successfully into Zimbabwe – with better co-operation than he receives here in SA. Seeing a

Garratt operated train leaving Vic Falls station is to my mind still one of railways’ great

pleasures and then to step off the platform and into the Vic Falls Hotel for a cold beer

afterwards, another of life’s pleasures.

I so agree with you when you say that officials must make a point of travelling by train. Do

they or don’t they? Probably not, but perhaps they may have, were they to have kept some

of those lovely privates that used to grace our rail network. But that would also not

guarantee any real work being done. Today there is a different approach to discipline and

because of the doing away with promotion from the bottom, very little railway culture left.

It seems to be all about business, which is fine – up to a point. Kobus Loubser who you

knew, had that railwayman’s pride – and he had the knowledge to go with it but today, men

like Kobus Loubser are thin on the ground.

Nathan, your latest report is heart breaking. I must say that Richard’s words of

encouragement are good to read but railway preservation is a back breaking and difficult job

in South Africa today. Even just running a railway seems to get more impossible by the day

with these thugs stealing and damaging railway property incessantly. Anything is free game

today – not just our poor rhinos.

I really don’t know what more one can say to encourage you guys at FOTR & other

preservation schemes. Right now I can only sympathise; but faint hearts never won much,

nor a preserved railway, so you mustn’t give up. Things can surely only improve. (We hope)

66

Pierre

3. Les Pivnic’s response

Dear Hennie and List,

Thanks for that very interesting read triggered by my photo of Biggsy's Buffet on an EMU at

Glencairn.

My uncle Lou Tromp - a born and bred Capetonian - always told me that if you want to

learn to speak Afrikaans properly - then read Die Burger!!!

Suiwer Afrikaans meneer! It is indeed the Afrikaans equivalent of the London Times.

Breakfast in Biggsy's must have been most enjoyable - I never had the opportunity but going

on Hennie's account, it was very good!

The old SAR Apprentice Schools invariably had strict task-masters and that produced fitters

and millwrights etc, who knew what they were doing when they qualified.

The SAR trains DID have a unique smell about them - it was the real leather seats, the

varnished timber, and of course - a good dollop of soot over the years!

Many years ago, I bought a folding compartment table from the Stores Office in

Bloemfontein Mechanical Shops. If one smelt the table - it reeked of the old SAR smells. I

only lightly cleaned the table when I took it home and it retained that wonderful smell for

several years. Alas! It has finally gone - the smell that is - I still have that table in my

household effects.

Pierre - Getting back to my Capetonian uncle Lou Tromp, he used to say to us

Vaalies – nee wat - the world ends at Hexrivier!!! Don't bother going further!

Back in those days (1950s) living in a very prosperous and pleasant and

CLEAN Johannesburg, I didn't agree with him but now with my dear old

Johannesburg in a sorry state, he would be right!

Regards, Les Pivnic.

67

Welkom Railway Station (Free State) – J Wepener

68

Brandfort – J Wepener

[A friend in

the old SADF,

Vernon

Visser, once

told me that

the SAR used

Dulux paint.

It does not

matter which

paint they

used! But

look at the

old livery –

the paint was

made to last!

These Cabooses are one of my favourite pieces of rolling stock!]

69

Houtenbeck – J Wepener

70

Vetrivier – J Wepener

71

Industrial railways – J Wepener – Free State Goldfields

Harmony Depot

RRL Welkom

72

Sheltam - Virginia

Sheltam - Virginia

73

Sheltam - Virginia

74

Sheltam - Virginia

Sheltam - Virginia

Sheltam - Virginia

75

Railway photographs

Dwarsvlei – Louis Lubbe

“A return journey to Dwarsvlei, please? “

76

Rack Loco nr Watervalboven

Rack Loco nr Watervalboven – Andre Grove

NGR – Anglo-Boer War – WSL Churchill & HMAT

SOUTH AFRICAN RAILWAYS AND HARBOURS MAGAZINE October 1921 - 687

After 40 years’ service – Retirement at 65

Among the many retirements from the Railway Service which

have recently taken place, not the least interesting is that of Mr.

J. W. Thompson (photo), who for the past five years has been

gateman at Newtown, Johannesburg, and who went on pension

at the end of August last.

Altogether he has had 41 years' service on the railways in South

Africa, nearly 10 years of this lengthy period being on the C.G.R., 14 years on the

N.G.R. and the remainder on the C.S.A.R. and the S.A.R.

Born in Annan, Dumfrieshire, in March, 1856, his first experience of railway work

was with the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company, in 1874; he served

with that company until 1879 and then came out to South Africa under contract to the

Cape Government Railways.

One of the interesting experiences in connection with Mr. Thompson's railway

service occurred during the Anglo-Boer war when he was one of thirteen plate-layers

travelling on an armoured train between Chieveley and Frere stations, Natal. The

military force on the train consisted of 100 men of the Dublin Fusiliers and a few of

77

the Durban Light Infantry, while a passenger on the train was Mr. Winston

Churchill, then a war correspondent for two London papers.

The train ran daily between Estcourt and Colenso and was frequently sniped by Boer

marksmen, but during its trip on the 15th November, 1899, it was fired on heavily by

a Boer commando and as a result one of the trucks was overturned and the others

derailed. A number of those on board the train were wounded and others injured

by the over-turning of the trucks, among the latter being Foreman Thompson. After

being under fire for about an hour and a half, 20 men, headed by Mr. Winston

Churchill, succeeded in getting the train righted and the wounded and injured were

conveyed to Estcourt.

Shortly after this incident Mr. Churchill was captured by the Boer forces and was

imprisoned in Pretoria. The following letter was shortly afterwards addressed to the

railwaymen concerned by Lady Randolph Churchill:

Engineer in Chief's Office,

Maritzburg,

December 29th, 1899.

For your information I have to forward you a copy of a letter received from

Lady Randolph Churchill, which is as follows: —

" Sir, —

I wish to thank you on behalf of my son, Winston Spencer Churchill, now a

prisoner at Pretoria, and the employees of the Armoured Train, who so

generously recorded in the letter which you forwarded to the General Manager of

Railways, their opinion of him and what he did for them. I need hardly say how

grateful I am, as his mother, to have this tribute of brave men to a brave man, nor

how much I appreciate their thoughtfulness in expressing it. Please convey my

sympathy to the wounded among them.

Trusting they are doing well,

Believe me,

Yours faithfully,

(Signed) Jeannie Randolph Churchill."

Foreman Thompson,

c/o Inspector Snow,

Pinetown.

78

People interested our railway heritage

Jan Molekoa, Edwin Gillham and Sue Laurence at Bellville (Hennie).

Sue lives in Australia

Jan is still assisting Boon Boonzaaier

2003-01-31 Boon Boonzaaier at Matjesfontein – Jimmy Logan’s old Watering hole!

79

2003-10-21: Oom Trevor Atwell, Celebrating 50 trips on BTS 21-10-2003 (Photo – Hennie)

In the background, former school teacher, Boon Boonzaaier then the “BOSS” of Bosveld

Train Safaris – handing over a plaque to Oom Trevor to commemorate his 50 trips on

BTS.

80

2003-10-24 CP “Charlie” Lewis, on the Port Shepstone NG

The mail bag

Nick Twynham

Hi Hennie, I have received via a friend issues no’s 1 and 2 from last year have you published

anything since then and if so, would it be possible to email them to me?

I have a number of railway friends who really enjoyed the first two, I send them to friends in

England and Canada.

Thanks and kindest regards.

Les Bray

Hi Hennie

Long time no speak!

81

Well done with the rxxxxxx gaxxxxx but I have not seen one for ages. I am sure that I had

subscribed but have not received e mails. Help me please!

Irvine Short

Hennie, I would say sleep on it. I do not see that it is very likely anyone would confuse your

two publications.

At any rate, rebrand the new ones and leave the old ones if they get uppity.

Rod Currin

Darn, I haven't had a chance to download them yet.

But please remember, it's only the name that needs to change. Perhaps replace Gazette with

Journal, Magazine or any other suitable word. Since I haven't seen any of the issues yet, I

don't know if changing it is easy for the existing issues, but it surely can't be too much

effort for future issues?

Is there any way I could get the previous issues (old or new name!)?

Please keep doing it. I say again, it's only a name change.

Cheers

Carlos Vieira

Hennie

Don't give it up.

You have and still are doing great work with the Gazette. Even I had the pleasure to

contribute to it and will continue to do so.

Change the name of it for starters of those you have already done so far and give the new

name to those yet to be published. You called my column "Carlos's Junction" why not call

the whole Gazette "Hennies' Junction" for example. A boere maak a plan moenie dit vergeet

Oom Hennie.

Mooi bly, Carlos

Ashley Peter

Hennie

I too only even managed to get hold of your first two journals, which were most interesting.

Please let us know how we can access these publications?

Many thanks

Ashley

82

Dave Fortune

Go for the gap my china.

Stewart Currie

Don’t give up

Change the name and reissue

What you have done is very valuable for recording the history of SA Railways

Sue Lawrence

Dear Hennie and others,

Don't for heaven’s sake give up. Remember that we are humans. Lawyers, like politicians,

accountants and economists belong to a different, sort of sub-human species known as homo

wreckedus (incidentally, to my great regret, my daughter elected to become a lawyer,

married to a politician).

However, being in publishing, I am afraid that i did worry right from the start, but the

answer is simple as has been suggested - simply change the title. And, being electronic, you

can quite easily change the title even of the earliest issue.

But don't forget to let the world know how the mighty Railway Gazette is so terrified of a

new upstart in South Africa that it even threatened legal action lest it be upstaged.

To be honest, Gazette is not actually an appropriate title anyway as it implies a current news

magazine, whereas you are providing a historical background. Might I be so bold as to

suggest something quite simple like e-Rails Southern Africa, which leaves you open to cover

tramways.

And congratulations on a fantastic effort.

With very best wishes

Sue

Lindsay Rickard

Hennie,

Thanks for your e-mag, it is a good read. I also like the links to similar past articles for

background reading. There are obviously others on the List with far greater experience than

I with regard to this matter of naming rights. As mentioned by others, perhaps a name

change would resolve the issue. I am not an Afrikaans speaker but perhaps a name that

includes a commonly used Afrikaans word like “Spoor” somewhere in that title would still

83

carry the meaning to all those with an interest in African railways, even though your

coverage extends to Egypt and West Africa.

You are doing a great job and I cannot begin to imagine the time and effort you put into

recording this part of history. Thank you. All the best, Lindsay Rickard

Robert GMAM

Here, here. I suppose the lawyer thinks you are some multi-national publishing company,

making millions from your sales!

Keep up the good work, Hennie!

Best wishes,

Robert.

Les Pivnic

Hello Hennie

I agree totally with the views expressed on the List regarding your eRailway

Gazette.

Change the title and continue with your excellent work!

Regards, Les P

Ian

(Thanks!)

Greg Smorenburg

Hi Hennie

Please don't give up on this! It is pretty awesome what you are doing, especially the military

aspect to our railways. Besides being a railway enthusiast and model railroader, I'm also

a wargamer and sometimes try to incorporate a railway perspective to our games. I'm

especially interested in World War II railways both here and in Europe.

If you need to go with the Afrikaans name, no problem by me.

Cheers

Adrian

Hennie,

I agree with the guys, just change the name and carry on with your great work.

Adrian

84

Bill

Hi Hennie

How about some history of the Railway Police at Esselenpark also the Non-White training

facilities.

Cheers, Bill

Les Pivnic

Hi Hennie

Your revised title and approach looks fine to me - take your break and then continue with

your excellent work!

As Pierre says - Sterkte Hennie!

I would also like to second Bill's request for an article on the Railway

Police.

During my time in the SA Railway Museum, I assisted a Warrant Officer of

the SAR Police with documentation from the Museum's files - I still proudly

have a framed certificate of appreciation from the Brigadier of the Railway

Police.

Regards

Andre Kritzinger

Vasbyt, Hennie. Ons ou troepe verstaan mos nie so lekker van opgee nie....

Regards,

André, Cape Town.

• Thanks Andre,

We in the ‘Old Police’ could always recon on support from the SAAF & the SAR!

Pierre de Wet

Hi all,

Firstly Les – good to see you back on the list so soon Meneer! Welcome.

Irvine & Hennie – I take your points. I don’t think we should be too fearful reproducing

photographs on this list but we must acknowledge the photographer where known.

Hennie’s info which is just what we needed, says that after 50 years, copyright lapses on

photographs so that clears that up. I also agree that for List purposes, if the photographer is

unknown, the source can perhaps be named, such as SASSAR magazine or Cape Archives. If

it is for commercial purposes that is another matter.

Hennie – let me say too that your Railway gazette is terrific – please don’t stop or even slow

down.

85

Irvine – I’ll have to re-invest in a scanner – our old one was for Apple Mac and that was

thrown out with the old computer so the railway circle pics will have to wait for a while yet.

Pierre

Michael Mc Carthy

More Hennie ek sal graag die e-Spoorweg Nuusblad wil ontvang vorige uitgawes sal ook

welkom wees. By voorbaat dankie

Conclusion

Well that’s it for this month! Spread “The Ulolwe” around to your “railway-friends”

and do enjoy some of the pictures of days gone by when somebody had the foresight to

capture little time capsules of our past! Also thanks to all for their photographs “old and

new”!

I have made the pictures larger – however what I would like to know is, must I place all

pictures in a large format, even the old photographs of these old accidents? Would you

prefer that?

Next issue

Look out for the special editions that will follow this issue, Vol 2 No 6, very soon on

locomotives etc by Dr Raimund Loubser, son of Dr MM Loubser! I will post them on ISSUU.

SO do keep a sharp look out for them!

Greetings from

Hennie Heymans

Pretoria

Date: 13th June 2011 and please respect the copyright of this e-Magazine and the

photographs and contributions of our correspondents! Please send articles and photographs

to: heymanshb@gmail.com I use word.doc (Palatino Linotype (11) and .jpeg for

photographs.)